Just the other day, I received an email back from a reader. I had answered his question.
I loved the quote in his email signature so much, that I had to share.
It read:
Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times. - G. Michael Hopf
How true, and how it reminded me of the Old Testament.
Never forget about God during the good times. Never stop putting your all into life when the times are good. That’s when you fight and try even harder for God and family, to ensure you do not become weak and lose your way.
It would seem modern technology, if you succumb to it, will make many weak and soft physically. As a nation, we are spoiled. Many of us, when we think back to our grandparents, they were tough birds. They were spiritually strong too.
After my well was dug, the driller told me of his grandfather who started the business. He kept a diary of the work he did.
He bought the rig from his boss, used, and got started. It was steam driven pulled by a horse team to the future well site.
The team would pull the rig to the nearest train station, everything was loaded including the horses along with the firewood and coal to make the steam. They would travel to the depo nearest the job site on the train and then unload, using the horses to get them to the job. He said sometimes it took a week just to arrive.
He said they would pitch tents for the workers, or if it was a farm they slept in the barn. Drilling one foot a day was a good day. It was more of a hammer drill then a turning drill.
He noted the pay he received for each job. One job paid $45 cash, 3 dogs, a pig, and one dairy cow. His grandfather lived on a farm with 9 children, so the animals came in handy.
I looked at him and smiled and said, so I guess you are spoiled. He said, look at the truck I am driving. AC, power steering, power brakes, etc. My grandpa’s truck, you never knew if the brakes were going to work. We both had a good laugh. One thing he said, and I heard it before and try to practice, always look back at how things were.
I really enjoy listening to the old timers tell the tales of their old timers.
There is nothing better than listening to the stories of old timers (or as you said, old times telling stories of old timers). I think about all of this quite often, especially over the last few years. We calleit “progress”…when in reality I think it’s the opposite. As we “progressed” we lost more than we gained.
Agreed. I miss hearing stories from my grandmother who was born and raised in the Appalachian Mountains. Amazing woman, to me she had a tough life but not to her! My dad, now 81, tells her stories as well as his own. I wish I could take my children and grandchildren back in time for just one week to experience what it was like. Some of the best memories I have were of all us kids running around catching lightening bugs while the men played banjos and harmonicas and the wonderful smells of treats being cooked in the kitchen. By women too!! LOL
